I really appreciate all the reviews I got for chapter 11! I think it was the most I've gotten for a chapter! I know after getting all those reviews, I owed it to you to update earlier, but I had mountains of homework, getting ready for Christmas, celebrating Christmas, and shopping of course! (oh, back to school also….) haha. It was crazy. So, I wanted to say that I appreciated all the support. It means a lot.

Chapter 12—7th Year Comes To An End

"PARTY!" Sirius yelled and jumped in the air, his hair flying up. Katie laughed.

"Sirius, calm down, it's not for an hour." She laughed. There was a huge party the Gryffindors were throwing for all the 7th years, celebrating the end of N.E.W.T. exams and one last party before leaving Hogwarts. (a/n—thanks potterchick1 for the party idea!)

"I'm getting into the party mood early!" Sirius replied. Katie laughed again.

"Well, I'm going to get ready for it, okay? I'll be sure to wear something sexy for you." She winked jokingly. Sirius smirked but then laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily was standing in front of her closet, unable to decide what to wear. At that moment, Katie burst into the door carrying her clothes and make-up.

"Alright, let me look." She walked over to Lily's closest and studied it carefully. "Hmmm…" Lily waited patiently. Katie grabbed two pairs of jeans, tossed them on the bed and turned to face Lily.

"I like those two pairs. Which ones are smaller?" Katie asked.

"Erm, I think the lighter ones." Lily replied.

"Wear the light ones." Katie instructed her and Lily slipped them on. Katie turned back to the closest. "Hmmm…" She said again, tapping her chin. She grabbed two tank tops, the white one with green flowers and a plain green one. "Layer these. Put the white one on top and the green on bottom. The white has a lower neckline, so you'll be able to see the green one, plus they are sporty, show you can relax and still look hot.

Lily put them on and turned towards her mirror. The tank tops showed some cleavage but she didn't care. It was such a simple outfit, but it looked really cute on her.

"James will love it." Katie grinned and Lily laughed.

"What are you wearing?" She asked Katie.

"I told Sirius I would wear something sexy--." Both girls laughed. "So I grabbed this." It was a very short denim skirt, Katie's favorite one to wear, and a very tight blue polo. She slipped them on and showed Lily.

"What do you think?"

"It looks great. Katie, is it for kids?" Lily pointed out and they laughed.

"Well I've had this shirt since I was fourteen! It just got short on me. But hey, I'll take advantage of it. Sirius will too." And once again, the girls laughed.

"What should I do with my hair?"

"Straighten it and we'll take it from there." Once Lily put the spell on her hair, Katie conjured up a thin green ribbon. She tied it around the top of Lily's head, in a small bow on the side.

"Oh, it's adorable!" Lily smiled. (a/n—the clothes and hair I write about was probably not in style then, but it's what people wear and look like where I live...mostly preppy, so I base it on that, because it's what I'm used to.)

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sirius, James and Remus walked into the door of the room of requirement. What they asked for was perfect, so they didn't need to set up or conjure anything. Lily and Katie walked through the door shortly after. Both James and Sirius grinned.

"You look cute." James tilted her chin up and kissed her sweetly.

"Thank you. Now do you and Sirius always have to dress alike?"

"We're not dressed alike. I'm wearing blue and he's wearing black." Lily laughed sweetly. James and Sirius were both dressed in jeans that fit perfectly and their trademark button-down shirts, which, as usual, had the top two unbuttoned and they were un-tucked. Remus wore tan shorts with a simple green t-shirt.

"Where's Peter?" Katie asked.

"He's still in front of the mirror. He's got a crush on someone." Remus said, looking directly at Katie, she laughed until she comprehended what he meant.

"Wait! You mean me?" All three boys laughed. Katie whipped around to face Lily, her loose, blonde, curled hair bouncing with her. Lily was biting her lip and her mouth was twitching, and Katie knew that meant she was trying not to laugh. "Oh go ahead." She told her. Lily exploded and grabbed onto James's shoulder for support. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Great."

"Now, C'mon, you know Peter wants you. So are you sure about staying with Sirius?" James joked. Katie glared at him, but then started chuckling.

"Yes." She answered and wrapped her arms around him.

"And here we go again." Remus said as Sirius kissed her. Some voices made them unlock their lips. A group of Ravenclaws entered.

"Is this the seventh year party?"

"Yeah." Lily smiled. "Come on in." James flicked his wand and some music started playing. Some Hufflepuff girls showed up, and the boys a while later. A house elf had delivered a ton of food that Sirius requested.

"Dance with me." James came up from behind and wrapped his arms around Lily's stomach. She laid her hands over his arms and said good-bye to the girls she was talking to. She saw flickers of envy in their eyes.

"Will you dance with me?" Lily heard Peter ask someone. She turned her eyes away from James to see. He was looking nervous and standing in front of Katie and Sirius, whose arm was draped lazily around her waist. He removed it and gave her back a little shove.

"Go ahead." He grinned. Katie had an odd expression on her face. Lily saw James' face trying to figure out the expression. Lily knew. Katie was biting her tongue and jutting her chin out, which she always did to keep herself from saying something really bad.

Katie wasn't a tall person, she was only 5'4", but Peter was only one pathetic inch taller. James and Remus were both 6'4" and Sirius was 6'5"…being a complete 12 inches taller than Peter.

"Lily." Lily heard James' voice and turned back to face him. "Where are you living after we leave?"

"I think I'll go home for a month or two then Katie and I are looking for a place to share."

"Live with me." This took Lily by complete surprise.

"What?"

"Live with me." He repeated.

"James, I—we—we're—we're only eighteen. Well I'm eighteen. You're nineteen. But still…we're not even twenty!"

"So? My parents were engaged when they were twenty."

'We're not your parents, James."

"Lily! Can't you see that I love you?" His voice was slowly rising and other seventh years were beginning to listen.

"Yes, James, but I can't live with you. I'm eighteen. Eighteen."

"Why can't you?"

"We're too young!"

"Who cares how old we are?"

"I do!"

"I want to live with you, Lily, and I want to now!" The whole party went silent. Lily's eyes watered.

"James, I want to also, but not now! We've haven't even been a couple a year yet. I'm sorry." Lily looked at her green converse-clad feet. Music started again, and Lily knew Katie put it back on and blasted it. People slowly turned away and began to party again.

"Do you love me, Lily? In all honestly, do you love me?" James needed a serious answer.

"Yes, I do." James grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him, pressing his lips upon her. He deepened the kiss, not caring what people though. He felt Lily's hands in his hair.

"Good." He replied breathless and she smiled and laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily stood on the stone circular driveway in front of her huge home before entering. It felt different. She opened the front door and stepped into the foyer. She felt different. The extra tall ceiling seemed unfamiliar. The shiny marble floor made it feel like a museum. She slowly walked up the stars and down the long, bright hallway to her room. The soft white carpet was freshly cleaned and the tall windows were letting in the beautiful sun. Though her home felt different, she still loved its beauty. Lily stepped onto the balcony outside her window. It overlooked the stone driveway and had a view of the fountains on each side of the straight part leading to the house. A limo pulled up the circular path and Lily recognized Katie getting out.

"Katie!" She called. Katie looked up and grinned. Lily quickly threw over the rope ladder from her balcony. It was a secret between her and Katie. Lily used it to escape her house sometimes, or let Katie come up when she wasn't allowed to have friends over. Even though Katie was allowed then, she climbed up the rope for old time's sake. Once she reached the top she exhaled deeply.

"That seemed so much easier when I was a kid." Lily laughed and opened the French doors to let Katie in her room.

"I think I found a place for us."

"Really? An apartment? Where?"

"About half hour away from London."

"What's it like?"

"Completely wizard."

"No way! That's what we've been looking for! How much?"

"About 453,000 pounds. (Around 800,000 American dollars)."

"Not bad. What's it like inside?"

"It's great, especially for an apartment. It has shiny wood floors in the entryway and in the common room, bright and sunny too with huge windows in the front, the kitchen is large and sunny, and there's 4 bedrooms with soft, white carpeting and 2 large bathrooms. I was thinking of maybe making the extras either offices or storage rooms. What do you think?"

"It sounds great, and we could definitely afford it. Plus, I'm dying to leave this house. Take me to see it tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Do you want to stay the night? We've got the guest bedroom all fixed up, or you could stay in my room in that giant sleeping bag."

"Sounds great, let me just call my mum."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sooooo sorry it took so long to update! I couldn't think of ideas, so this chapter really isn't great at all, but it should be better next one. Once again, sorry and thank you for the much appreciated reviews!

Love,

HPF670